City avoided the play-off round after securing a top eight position. A 2-0 win over Galatasaray on Wednesday evening, thanks to goals from Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki, secured three points and sent the Citizens straight through to the last 16.
Guardiola’s side will now discover their potential opponents in the last 16 on Friday, with Benfica, Bodo/Glimt, Inter or Real Madrid as options.
“We are very happy to have finished in the top eight, given how the Champions League has turned out,” Guardiola reflected.
“When I started 16 or 17 years ago, qualifying wasn’t that difficult. Nowadays every team is very tough and I’m very happy and hopefully we can perform at our best in March.
“We started very well and had chances. We didn’t have good midfielders there. Jeremy and Omar were excellent but we had incredible chances and maybe we were [could have] More goals were needed to qualify.
“But I’m very happy because we have long weeks [until the Round of 16] and we need it. Not only that, we’ve already qualified. Hopefully we can arrive better at that moment.
“Look how many great teams come from the top 24 and how many are not in the top eight, and yet this is the youngest team we have played against in my years here in the Champions League.
“It’s a learning process and hopefully Rodri, Marc and Semenyo will be back when we are there. That’s good news.”
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